Duct for film-containing cassettes

ABSTRACT

A duct wherein properly oriented film-containing cassettes slide by gravity toward an opening station has a channel the main portion of which is inclined downwardly through an angle of 30*45* and the inlet of which is bounded at the underside by two ramps over which the front section of a properly oriented cassette can move on its way into the main portion of the channel. The ramps cooperate with the surface bounding a recess which communicates with the top part of the inlet to arrest an improperly oriented cassette before the latter can begin to slide in the main portion of the channel.

[ Feb. 18, 1975 1 1 DUCT FOR FILM-CONTAINING CASSETTES [75] Inventor: Klaus Klose, Holzkirchen, Germany [73] Assignee: Agfa-Gevaert Aktiengesellschaft,

Leverkusen, Germany 22 Filed: Sept. 20, 1973 21 Appl. No.: 399,181

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data Sept. 22, 1972 Germany 2246524 521 us. c1. 198/278, 221/172 51 1111. c1. B65g 11/20 [58] Field of Search... 193/43 R, 43 A, 43 B, 43 C, 193/43 D; 221/156, 157, 170, 172, 173; 198/267, 268, 276, 277, 278

3,212,668 10 1965 Gleason C1211. 193 43 D x 3,298,491 l/l967 Quest ct al 193/43 R FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 6,363 5/1897 Norway 193/43 R Primary Examiner-Evon C. Blunk Assistant Examiner-W. Scott Carson Attorney, Agent, or FirmMichael S. Striker [5 7] ABSTRACT A duct wherein properly oriented film-containing cassettes slide by gravity toward an opening station has a channel the main portion of which is inclined downwardly through an angle of 30-45 and the inlet of which is bounded at the underside by two ramps over which the front section of a properly oriented cassette can move on its way into the main portion of the channel. The ramps cooperate with the surface bounding a recess which communicates with the top part of the inlet to arrest an improperly oriented cassette before the latter can begin to slide in the main portion of the channel.

7 Claims, 6 Drawing Figures 1 DUCT FOR FILM-CONTAINING CASSETTES BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a device, such as a duct, wherein containers or cassettes for photographic film are conveyed to an opening station or to another destination. More particularly, the invention relates to improvements in the configuration of surfaces which bound the channel in the duct and which are intended to insure that a container reaches its destination in a predetermined orientation, for example, in an optimum position for opening of its casing and for removal of exposed film therefrom.

It is already known to introduce containers with exposed photographic roll film into the channel of a duct wherein the containers advance toward an opening or film removing station. The containers are fed into the inlet of the channel by hand, and the attendant must insure that each container enters the channel in a predetermined orientation which enables the container to reach its destination in an optimum position for further treatment. The work of the attendant is extremely tedious in spite of the fact that the introduction of containers must be carried out with great care since there is only one way of properly introducing a container and normally two or more different ways of introducing the container in an improper orientation. For example, a so-called drop-in cassette (also known as cassette No. 126) which is used in many types of still cameras and comprises two substantially mirror symmetrical sections each of which contains a reel for convoluted film (and eventually backing paper) can be introduced in as many as four different ways of which only one is the proper way for insuring that the container reaches its destination in an optimum orientation with respect to various instrumentalities at the discharge end of the channel in the duct. As a rule, the channel has a substantially rectangular cross-sectional outline and the instrumentalities at the discharge end of the channel may include a device for opening the casing of the container and a device for removing the exposed film (and the backing paper) from the opened casing. A single improperly introduced container can cause lengthy interruptions in the processing of exposed films, damage to the improperly introduced container or to the film therein, and/or damage to the duct or to the instrumentalities at the discharge end of the channel. The likelihood of improperly introducing one or more containers is even more pronounced due to the fact that the attendant who is in charge of such work is normally also required to perform one or more additional operations, such as introducing into the duct envelopes with customer numbers and/or other information simultaneously with the respective containers.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the invention is to provide a duct for film-containing cassettes or containers wherein the channel for the passage of successive cassettes toward an opening station or to another destination is configurated in such a way that it can accept only a cassette which is in a single predetermined orientation with respect to the inlet of the channel.

Another object of the invention is to provide a duct which need not comprise any moving parts, which can stand long periods of use and abuse, and which can be designed to allow for the passage of any desired type of film-containing cassettes in such a way that each cassette reaches its destination in an optimum position or orientation for further treatment.

A further object of the invention is to provide a duct which need not be provided with moving conveyor means for properly introduced cassettes, which occupies little room, and which is constructed in such a way that an improperly introduced cassette can be removed with a minimum of effort and without damage to its casing and/or the film therein.

An additional object of the invention is to provide a duct which eliminates the likelihood of delivery of ms settes to an opening station or another destination in any other but an optimum orientation for further treatment, such as the removal of exposed but undeveloped film from its interior.

The improved duct is used for the passage of filmcontaining cassettes, such as 126-cassettes of substantially U-shaped outline, which includes wall means defining a channel having an inlet and a main portion communicating with the inlet. The main portion is'configurated to allow therein the passage of cassettes in a plurality of different orientations and the wall means of the duct is provided with restricting means located in the region of the inlet of the channel and being arranged to permit cassettes to pass through the inlet and into the main portion of the channel only in a single predetermined orientation of cassettes during introduction into the inlet.

The restricting means may comprise at least one projection (e.g., a trapezoid rib or ramp provided in a bottom surface of the inlet) which extends into the inlet and may prevent full introduction of an improperly oriented cassette into the channel. The restricting means may further comprise a preferably trapeziform recess provided in that surface of the wall means which bounds the upper part of the inlet. That portion of the surface which bounds the recess serves as a means for arresting an improperly oriented cassette before the entire cassette enters the main portion of the channel.

The novel features which are considered as characteristic of the invention are set forth in particular in the appended claims. The improved duct itself, however, both as to its construction and the mode of using the same, together with additional features and advantages thereof, will be best understood upon perusal of the following detailed description of certain specific embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawing.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the inlet of the channel in a duct which embodies the invention, a container or cassette for exposed roll film being shown in proper orientation for introduction into the inlet;

FIG. 2 is a vertical sectional view substantially as seen in the direction of arrows from the line II-Il of FIG. 1, showing a first properly introduced container in the main portion and a second properly introduced DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring first to FIGS. 1 to 3, there is shown a duct which defines a channel for the passage of containers 25 of the type known as drop-in cassettes or 126- cassettes. Each such container includes a plastic casing having a takeup section 25a, a supply section 25v, and a flat hollow intermediate section 25r. The width ba of the sections 25a, 25r exceeds the width bv of the supply section 25v. The distance between the sections 25a, 25v is shown at k, the height of the casing of the container 25 at h, and the thickness of the intermediate section 25r equals 11-2. The underside of the intermedi ate section 25r (as viewed in FIG. 1 or 2) is provided with a window (not shown) which registers with the foremost unexposed frame of roll film therein when the container 25 is properly installed in the body of a photographic apparatus and the film transporting mechanism has been actuated to advance the film by the length of a frame.

The duct includes a front wall 1 which is provided with an opening 3 constituting the inlet of the channel wherein successive properly oriented containers 25 advance by gravity from the upper side of a platform or table 2 to an opening station, not shown, where the exposed film is removed preparatory to introduction into a developing machine. The main portion 4 of the channel has a substantially rectangular cross-sectional outline. As shown in FIG. 1, the upper side of the table 2 is provided with a recess for a plate-like metallic or plastic insert 2a which extends toward and into the inlet 3 of the channel and on which the container 25 can be positioned and oriented preparatory to introduction into the inlet 3. The plate-like insert 2a can further serve as a cover for a chamber which accommodates one or more parts of the apparatus including the improved duct. The material of the insert 2a is preferably resistant to scratching, scoring or the like so that it can stand long periods of use. This insert can further serve for temporary deposition thereon of other parts which are being manipulated by the attendant, for example, envelopes 6 which contain or carry information pertaining to the customer, the dealer who received the container 25 from a customer and forwarded it to a processing laboratory, and/or others.

That wall portion of the duct which is located behind the front wall 1 and bounds the upper side of the main channel portion 4 has an internal surface 4d which extends to the front side of the wall 1 and is provided in the region of the inlet 3 with an elongated trapeziform recess 7. The surface 4d has a transverse edge 7k (FIG. 4) at the front end of the recess 7 and a pair of mutually inclined portions which form a corner 7lk shown in FIGS. and 6. The width of the recess 7 equals the width W of the main portion of the channel. The width W slightly exceeds the maximum width ba of the container 25 so that the latter can slide by gravity during travel through the main portion 4. The height H of the main portion 4 exceeds somewhat the maximum height h of the container 25.

The wall portion of the duct behind the wall 1 is further provided with a surface 4b which constitutes the bottom surface of the main channel portion 4 and is provided with two longitudinally extending spaced apart parallel trapeziform projections or ramps 8a, 8b located in the region of the inlet 3. The width s of a ramp 8a or 8b is relatively small; however, the combined width (2s) of these ramps reduces the width of the inlet 3 in the region of the ramps 8a, 8b sufficiently to insure that the takeup section 25a of a properly inserted and oriented container 25 will slide over the top faces of the ramps 80, 8b during travel toward the downwardly inclined main portion 4 of thechannel. The distance between the ramps 8a, 8b slightly exceeds the width bv of the supply section 25v so that, when a container 1 is properly oriented prior to introduction into the inlet 3 and is thereupon pushed into the inlet, the takeup section 25a is located ahead of the supply section 25v and rides over the ramps 8a, 8b. As the container 1 continues to advance into the main portion 4, the supply section 25v at the trailing end thereof' travels between the ramps 8a, 8b (see the supply sec tion 25v of the left-hand container 25 in FIG. 2). When the container 25 or 25 of FIG. 2 is introduced and advanced in a manner as shown, the front surface of the takeup section 25a or 25a can bypass that portion of the surface 4d which surrounds the recess 7 so that the container 25' or 25 can enter the inclined main portion 4 of the channel and thereupon slides by gravity along the surface 4b to advance to the opening station.

The heightfof the ramp 8a or 8b is less than the distance e which represents the distance between the upper side of the insert 2a and the underside of the intermediate section 25r when a container 25 rests on the upper side of the insert. Also, the length l of the ramp 8a or 8b is less than the aforementioned distance k between the sections 25a, 25v. This insures that the intermediate section 25r can bypass the ramps 8a, 8b during entry of the respective container 25 into the main portion 4.

The inclination (angle alpha) of the surface 4b relative to the horizontal upper side of the insert 2a is preferably between 3045. This insures that a container which advances at least slightly beyond the position of the container 25 shown in FIG. 2 can begin to slide along the surface 4b by gravity and need not be prodded in order to arrive at the opening station.

The entire duct (with the possible exception of the insert 2a) may be made of a single piece of synthetic plastic material; however, it is equally within the purview of the invention to make the duct of a metallic marately produced component parts. The reference characters 9a and 9b denote two lateral chambers or cavities which are respectively adjacent to the outer sides of the ribs 8b and 8a and enable the attendant to reach into the duct at both sides of the inlet 3 in order to extract an improperly introduced container. In some instances, a single chamber (9a or 9b) will suffice to allow for extraction of improperly introduced containers. The open sides of the chambers 9a, 9b are located in the wall 1. The width of the chamber 9a or 9b preferably equals or approximates that of the inlet 3.

The cassette 25 of FIG. 2 can be said to have a substantially U-shaped outline. The section 25v constitutes a first leg of the U-shaped cassette 25, the section 25a constitutes the second leg of the cassette 25, and the intermediate section 25r constitutes a web of the eassette 25. The cassette 25-is in proper orientation for introduction into the channel including the inlet 3 and main portion 4 when the first leg 25v is located ahead of the second leg 25a, as considered in the direction of introduction of the cassette 25 into the inlet 3, and when the legs 25v, 25a extend downwardly from the web 25r. FIG. 4 illustrates two positions of an improperly inserted container 25. As shown, the supply section 25v is located ahead of the takeup section 25a; therefore, the inclination of the container 25 increases excessively as soon as the takeup section 25a begins to ride on the ramps 8a, 8b whereby the upper side of the intermediate section 25r abuts against the aforementioned edge portion 7k of the surface 4d at the front end of the recess 7 and the container 25 cannot advance deeper into the main portion 4. The attendant notices the improper position of the container 25 and extracts the container by inserting his or her fingers into the chambers 9a, 9b. It will be noted that an improperly oriented container 25 whose orientation is unsatisfactory on the sole ground that the section 25v has been introduced into the inlet 3 ahead of the section 250 can enter the inlet 3 in its entirety but cannot slide in the channel all the way to the opening station. The edge 7k is sufficiently close to the exposed side of the wall 1 to insure that the attendant can readily reach a jammed container 25.

FIG. 5 illustrates a container 25 which has been inserted in inverted position and in such a way that the supply section 25v is located ahead of the takeup section 25a. The container 25 of FIG. 5 jarns even before it can be fully inserted into the inlet 3. This is due to the fact that the width of the intermediate section 25r exceeds the distance between the ramps 8a, 8b so that the section 25r rides on the ramps and the convex surface of the section 25v abuts against the corner portion 71k of the surface 4d while the convex surface of the section 25a abuts against the wall 1 above the inlet 3. The attendant can extract the container 25 of FIG. 5 without being compelled to reach into the chamber 9a and- /or 917.

FIG. 6 illustrates a container 25 which is also inserted in inverted position but is otherwise ready for insertion into the main portion 4, i.e., the section 25a is located ahead of the section 25v. Nevertheless, the container 25 cannot advance beyond the recess 7 because the intermediate section 25r again rides on the ramps 8a, 8b and thereby causes the convex surface of the section 25:: to abut against the corner portion 71k while the convex surface of the section 25v abuts against the front wall 1 above the inlet 3. The container of FIG. 6 can be extracted in the same way as the container of FIG. 5, i.e., it might not even be necessary to reach into the chamber 9a or 9b. In each of FIGS. 5 and 6, the jamming takes place when the intermediate section 25r rides over an edge 8k between two mutually inclined portions of top faces of the ramps 8a, 8b.

An important advantage of the improved duct is that its configuration compels the attendant to insert a container in an optimum position and orientation for automatic transport to the opening station. As shown in FIGS. 4, 5 and 6, a container 25 is automatically prevented from reaching that stage of introduction into the main portion 4 of the channel in which it could advance by gravity, and the jamming or stoppage takes place while the container is still accessible for convenient extraction. It has been found that the attendant is in a position to detect the improper introduction of a container before the container is damaged (which could result in damage to exposed film therein) and before the improperly introduced container is held by the adjoining surfaces of the duct with a force which would necessitate the exertion of a substantial effort for withdrawal from the inlet 3. Since the duct need not have any moving parts, the wear thereon is negligible so that it can properly guide containers for long periods of time. The insert2a is optional but is often desirable in order to avoid excessive scratching of the upper side of the platform. 2. As shown in FIGS. 2-6, the ramps 8a, 8b may constitute integral parts of the insert 2a.

Without further analysis, the foregoing will so fully reveal the gist of the present invention that others can, by applying current knowledge, readily adapt it for various applications without omitting features which fairly constitute essential characteristics of the generic and specific aspects of my contribution to the art and, therefore, such adaptations should and are intended to be comprehended within the meaning and, range of equivalence of the claims.

What is claimed as new and desired to be protected by Letters Patent is set forth in the appended claims:

1. A duct. for substantially U-shaped film-containing cassettes of the type having a first leg constituting a supply section, a second leg constituting a takeup section and having a width exceeding that of said first leg, and a web constituting an intermediate section, said duct including wall means defining a channel having an inlet and a main portion communicating with said inlet, said inlet being .configurated to allow therein the passage of cassettes in a plurality of different orientations and said wall means being provided with restricting means located in the region of said inlet and arranged to permit cassettes to pass through said inlet and into said main portion of said channel only in a single predetermined orientation of cassettes during introduction into said inlet, a U-shaped cassette being in said single predetermined orientation when said second leg is located ahead of said first leg, as considered in the direction of introduction into said channel and said first and second legs extend downwardly from saidweb, said wall means having surfaces bounding said inlet of said channel and one of said surfaces including a pair of ramps over which said second leg of a cassette slides during introduction into said inlet, said ramps forming part of said restricting means and being spaced apart by a distance exceeding the width of said first leg of a U- shaped cassette so that such first leg can travel'between said ramps during introduction of the respective cassette into said channel.

2. A duct as defined in claim 1, wherein said main portion of said channel is inclined downwardly with respect to a horizontal plane through an angle of 30-45".

3. A duct as defined in claim 1, wherein said wall means is provided with at least one chamber laterally adjacent to said inlet and communicating therewith to afford access to an improperly oriented cassette in said inlet.

4. A duct as defined in claim 1, wherein another of said surfaces of said wall means is provided with at least one recess and said restricting means further comprises that portion of said other surface which surrounds said recess.

also by that portion of said other surface which surrounds said recess.

7. A duct as defined in claim 4, wherein said recess is a substantially trapeziform recess through which said second leg and said web travel toward said main portion of said channel during introduction of a U-shaped cassette into said inlet. 

1. A duct for substantially U-shaped film-containing cassettes of the type having a first leg constituting a supply section, a second leg constituting a takeup section and having a width exceeding that of said first leg, and a web constituting an intermediate section, said duct including wall means defining a channel having an inlet and a main portion communicating with said inlet, said inlet being configurated to allow therein the passage of cassettes in a plurality of different orientations and said wall means being provided with restricting means located in the region of said inlet and arranged to permit cassettes to pass through said inlet and into said main portion of said channel only in a single predetermined orientation of cassettes during introduction into said inlet, a U-shaped cassette being in said single predetermined orientation when said second leg is located ahead of said first leg, as considered in the direction of introduction into said channel and said first and second legs extend downwardly from said web, said wall means having surfaces bounding said inlet of said channel and one of said surfaces including a pair of ramps over which said second leg of a cassette slides during introduction into said inlet, said ramps forming part of said restricting means and being spaced apart by a distance exceeding the width of said first leg of a U-shaped cassette so that such first leg can travel between said ramps during introduction of the respective cassette into said channel.
 2. A duct as defined in claim 1, wherein said main portion of said channel is inclined downwardly with respect to a horizontal plane through an angle of 30-45*.
 3. A duct as defined in claim 1, wherein said wall means is provided with at least one chamber laterally adjacent to said inlet and communicating therewith to afford access to an improperly oriented cassette in said inlet.
 4. A duct as defined in claim 1, wherein another of said surfaces of said wall means is provided with at least one recess and said restricting means further comprises that portion of said other surface which surrounds said recess.
 5. A duct as defined in claim 4, wherein at least a portion of said recess is located above said ramps.
 6. A duct as defined in claim 4, wherein said main portion of said channel has a substantially rectangular cross-sectional outline and wherein a U-shaped cassette having an orientation other than said single predetermined orientation is prevented from entering said main portion of said channel not only by said ramps but also by that portion of said other surface which surrounds said recess.
 7. A duct as defined in claim 4, wherein said recess is a substantially trapeziform recess through which said second leg and said web travel toward said main portion of said channel during introduction of a U-shaped cassette into said inlet. 